Wilhelm Schilling

Wilhelm Schilling (30 January 1915 – 14 March 2000) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. For the fighter pilots, it was a measure of skill and combat success. He was credited with at least 50 victories in 538 missions.

Career

Upon finishing flight training, Wilhelm Schilling joined 3./JG 21 as an Unteroffizier. He gained his first victory during the Battle of France, shooting down a Hurricane fighter on 12 May 1940 over Brussels.

On 22 June 1940, I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 21 (JG 21–21st Fighter Wing) was withdrawn from France and moved to München Gladbach, present-day Mönchengladbach. The following day the Gruppe was ordered to Soesterberg in the Netherlands. On 2 July, the unit moved to Bergen op Zoom. Three days later, I. Gruppe of JG 21 was renamed and became the III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54–54th Fighter Wing).

In the ensuing Battle of Britain, he added three more victories: a Spitfire on 12 August 1940, another on 5 September near Ashford, and a Bristol Blenheim bomber over the North Sea on 8 November.

The unit was then transferred to the Balkans and Bucharest, before going to the Eastern Front to prepare for Operation Barbarossa. His first victory of the campaign was on the second day, 23 June 1941, when he shot down a Russian SB-2 bomber. III./JG 54 was based in the north covering the advance to, and siege of, Leningrad. By the end of the year, he had 17 victories. He hadn't advanced his score by 14 February 1942, when he was seriously wounded by Russian ground fire. Returning to the Leningrad Front in March 1942, he was awarded the Ehrenpokal (Goblet of Honour) on 1 July and the German Cross in Gold on 4 August. On 16 September, Schilling was wounded when his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 (Werknummer 10436—factory number) was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Despite his injuries, he managed to land safely at Dubrovka. Alternatively, Schilling may have been shot down by either Kapitan Dmitriy Zosimov or Starshiy Leytenant Boris Sushkin from 21 IAP (Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk— or Fighter Aviation Regiment). Both pilots had claimed a Bf 109 shot down on a fighter escort mission for Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. While recovering from his injuries, Schilling was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 10 October for his 46 victories at the time.

Defense of the Reich and squadron leader In February 1943, III. Gruppe was withdrawn from the Eastern Front to defense of the Reich duties, in a misguided attempt to rotate the fighter units between west and east. But for the pilots of III./JG 54, used to low-level combats, being thrown in against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) four-engined bombers at high altitude it was a disaster. In its first two missions the unit lost 15 planes and some of its best pilots. However, they persisted and things gradually improved. Now commissioned as an officer, on 1 August Schilling was promoted to Oberleutnant. In September, Schilling was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 9. Staffel of JG 54. He succeeded Hauptmann Hans-Ekkehard Bob who was transferred.

On 20 February 1944, the 8th Air Force started its Big Week against the Reich's industry. By now Schilling had added a further four victories, including three four-engined bombers. During the week III./JG 54 was heavily engaged, suffering considerable losses but inflicting only light damage on the bomber formations. On February 20, he was injured over Deensen/Alfeld while flying Bf 109 G-6 "Yellow 1" (Werknummer 440141) but made a successful forced landing which destroyed the aircraft. On 8 April, Schilling was transferred back to the Eastern Front. Command of 9. Staffel was thus passed on to Oberleutnant Gerhard Loos.

Eastern Front On the Eastern Front, Schilling succeeded Oberleutnant Emil Lang on 9 April 1944 as Staffelkapitän of 5. Staffel of JG 54. With the siege of Leningrad finally lifted, they were now based in Estonia. In June II./JG 54 was transferred across to Finland as combat support over the Karelian isthmus as the Soviets launched an attack to try and knock Finland out of the war. By July, they were back in Estonia with intense air activity, as another Soviet offensive aimed to turn the flanks of Army Group North on either end of Lake Peipus. Then, on 22 August, he was finally transferred back to the Reich, as a fighter-instructor in 1./Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (renamed 1./ErgJG Nord on 1 September. On 15 January 1945 he was made Staffelkapitän of the training unit 4./EJG 1,(renamed 10./EJG 1 in April 1945) where he served till the war's end.

Wilhelm Schilling was credited with 50 victories (plus 13 more unconfirmed) in 538 missions, 41 of them on the Eastern Front.

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Schilling was credited with 63 aerial victories. Obermaier also lists him with 63 aerial victories, of which eight were claimed over the Western Allies, including three heavy bombers, logging 538 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that he claimed at least 47 aerial victories. This number includes at least 42 claims on the Eastern Front and five over the Western Allies, including one four-engined heavy bomber.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 10191". The Luftwaffe grid map covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim Date Time Type Location Claim Date Time Type Location – 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 21 –Battle of France — 10 May – 25 June 1940 1 12 May 1940 10:05 Hurricane Brussels – 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Action at the Channel and over England — 26 June 1940 – 29 March 1941 2 12 August 1940 18:36 Spitfire? 4 8 November 1940 09:50 Blenheim west of Bergen aan Zee 3 5 September 1940 10:49 Spitfire? – 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941 5 23 June 1941 11:50 SB-2 12 29 September 1941 18:15 I-18 (MiG-1) 6 11 July 1941 15:30 I-18 (MiG-1) 13 7 October 1941 15:15 I-18 (MiG-1) 7 25 August 1941 12:45 I-16 14 11 October 1941 15:33? ground-attack aircraft? 8 10 September 1941 14:55 I-18 (MiG-1) 15 28 October 1941 12:25 I-26 (Yak-1) 9 11 September 1941 09:47 I-18 (MiG-1) 29 October 1941 I-26 10 15 September 1941 15:30 I-15 16 5 November 1941 15:08 I-26 (Yak-1) Kolpino 11 23 September 1941 15:10? I-18 (MiG-1) 17 14 November 1941 15:15 biplane? – 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942 18 9 March 1942 17:02 P-40 22 29 March 1942 10:15 I-26 (Yak-1) 19 13 March 1942 09:52 P-40 23 6 April 1942 10:45 P-40 20 14 March 1942 09:10 I-18 (MiG-1) 24 24 April 1942 13:02 Yak-1 21 14 March 1942 09:20 I-18 (MiG-1) 25 25 April 1942 14:42? P-40 – 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Eastern Front — 1 May – 16 September 1942 26 13 May 1942 04:10 P-40 37 31 August 1942 14:40 LaGG-3 PQ 10191, Kilosi 27 28 May 1942 08:58 I-16 PQ 11793 northeast of Shlisselburg 38 1 September 1942 12:24 LaGG-3? PQ 10191, Kilosi 28 10 June 1942 09:38 MiG-3 39 2 September 1942 05:18 MiG-3 PQ 10241 east-southeast of Shlisselburg 29 14 June 1942 17:40 P-40 40 3 September 1942 04:55 Il-2 PQ 10191, Kilosi 30 20 June 1942 19:07 P-40 41 6 September 1942 09:59 P-40 PQ 10144south of Shlisselburg 31 22 June 1942 20:05? Yak-1 42 9 September 1942 17:35 Il-2 PQ 10151southeast of Shlisselburg 32 26 June 1942 16:35? Yak-1 43 10 September 1942 11:08 Il-2 PQ 10173vicinity of Mga 33 22 August 1942 13:02 MiG-3 PQ 38313 south-southwest of Waldai 44 11 September 1942 07:30 MiG-3 PQ 00264 southwest of Shlisselburg 34 27 August 1942 16:43 MiG-3 PQ 10113vicinity of Shlisselburg 45 11 September 1942 11:50 MiG-3 PQ 00264 southwest of Shlisselburg 35 28 August 1942 14:05 MiG-3 PQ 10184, Gaitolowoeast of Mga 46 12 September 1942 06:24 Pe-2 PQ 00251 west-southwest of Shlisselburg 36 31 August 1942 05:15 MiG-3 PQ 10223 west of Volkhov – 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Defense of the Reich — September 1943 – 8 April 1944 According to Prien, Balke, Stemmer, and Bock, Schilling claimed two aerial victories in January 1944, most likely one each on 5 and 11 January. These two claims are not listed by Mathews and Foreman. 49 24 February 1944 15:20 B-17 PQ 15 Ost DU 4-5northwest of Regensburg

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 1 July 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot German Cross in Gold on 4 August 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the III./Jagdgeschwader 54 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 10 October 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 54